The best food holder of all

Styrofoam, plastic, paper, cardboard, aluminum … here are many ways to get food from point A to point B. But when it comes to the environment, they’re not all created equal.

Chow has an informative article rating 10 takeaway carriers solely on their green impact. The scale is from one to five, so a bunch of the choices start to get jumbled. But several points are clear.

First, styrofoam is horrible for the environment. When you burn styrofoam, it releases enough toxins to kill you. Even if you just use it at room temperature it contains styrene, which can cause “gastrointestinal effects” in the short term and damage to the central nervous system in the long term. Regular use should never cause damage but between the chemicals and the fact that it does not break-down, it’s got enough problems to be the obvious loser of all food carriers.

Styrofoam’s sister on the bottom of the chart is plastic.